Social Media

Dear Facebook, Please Don't Ruin Instagram

For Facebook, buying Instagram looks like one of the smartest acquisitions the company has ever made. But when the news first broke that Facebook had acquired Instagram, my immediate instinct was dread.

To be clear, I could not be happier for the Instagram team. They earned their success. The service is worth every penny. I'm genuinely glad that the team will get to reap the benefits of its hard work.

And buying Instagram was a great business decision from Facebook's perspective. As I remarked on Twitter, why try to build a competing photo app when you can just buy the best and most viral?

Still, as a user, I can't help but wonder: how long before Instagram becomes just another Facebook app? How much time until everything that made the service so special disappears into the ether?

As an early adopter, I've watched far too many of my favorite apps and services suffer. They have shut down or evolved into something completely different after being acquired by a bigger company. Yahoo and AOL are famous for buying a startup or service, only to ruin the company by dismantling it or letting it languish.

Of course, as Chris Taylor argues here, it's always possible that Facebook might not screw things up. After all, look at YouTube, a service that has absolutely flourished under the corporate control of Google. The YouTube team, in many regards, still feels slightly different than other parts of Google.

Maybe Instagram can be Facebook's YouTube. Unlike other Facebook acquisitions, such as FriendFeed, Divvyshot, Hot Potato, Drop.io, and Beluga, Instagram has a user base of more than 30 million people — which is much harder to ignore.

Keeping Instagram Awesome

Here are some steps Facebook can take to keep from ruining Instagram.

Keep The Team Together. Time and again, I see acquisitions flounder or fail under the new owner because the team was immediately split up. At Google, it's quite common for the CEO or project manager of a newly acquired product to get moved into a different role in a different part of the company or with a different service.

Often that means that the people that have the best understanding for the service as it exists and how it works are no longer around to guide it forward. More often than not, the service either dies, gets merged into something else, or continues to exist but is all but abandoned.

Don't Require Facebook Logins. I have always admired Amazon's ability to acquire a company — sometimes even a competitor — and continue to let that competitor operate without integrating into the main Amazon ecosystem.

Amazon has owned IMDb since 1999, but the user account I created in 1997 still works. Likewise, I can buy shoes from Zappos or audio books from Audible without linking to my Amazon account.

For at least the time being, Facebook needs to make its own system optional for Instagram users. Chances are, most users will choose to integrate with Facebook — but please, don't force it.

Keep it Mobile Only. Part of the appeal of Instagram is that the whole app and experience are designed for the mobile web. Yes, there are a slew of excellent third-party apps and tools. But to share a photo with the world, you need to use a mobile app.

To some, this might seem like a negative. But I firmly believe it is one of the things that makes Instagram special. The net effect is that I'm more aware of the photos that I share. It isn't like Flickr or Facebook, where I can just upload an album en masse.

With Instagram, I have to choose the photo, write a caption and select where to share. For that reason, the photos I share with Instagram tend to be the photos I actually care about.

Stay Focused. Too often, acquired startups use their newfound wealth and resources to veer into other areas. Part of the reason so many people use and love Instagram is that it is focused on one thing: Sharing photos with your friends on your mobile device. That's it.

Now that I've had my InstaEmo moment, I'm cautiously optimistic about this marriage — though I'm still fearful that my favorite social and photo network will become just one more cog in Facebook's ever-growing wheel.

What's Hot

More in Social Media

What's New

What's Rising

What's Hot

Mashable
is a leading source for news, information and resources for the Connected Generation. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world. Mashable's record 42 million unique visitors worldwide and 21 million social media followers are one of the most influential and engaged online communities. Founded in 2005, Mashable is headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco.